Monday, May 21, 2012

Hello everyone! How are you? I hope you are well! I am terribly sorry I have kept you all waiting for so long since my last post. Life has been busy and my calendar has just been booked, but with all good things. For instance, this past weekend we celebrated my cousin's wedding. Oh I wish I had remembered to take my camera to show you. Everything was absolutely beautiful, from the bride to the old Victorian with the white wrap-around porch that was the setting. She did a phenomenal job decorating and planning. You should have seen all of her tiny details. She made triangle banners cut from scraps of material and hung them with twine through out the reception tent and trees. The long tables were lined with burlap and old wooden folding chairs were used for seats. At each table setting she made napkins from the same material and collected hundreds of canning jars tied with twine for drinking glasses. The bouquets were beautiful wild flowers and the couple exchanged their vows under a pergola made from tree limbs. A vintage typewriter stood guard over the wedding programs and vintage suitcases collected cards on the gift table. Can you picture it in your mind? Oh, I hope so! It was a wedding fit to be in a magazine.

In my last post, I showed ways that I use and display old marmalade pots. I also mentioned that it's not only fun to display collections, but use throughout the home as well. Today, I would love to show you what I did with a collection of vintage handkerchiefs that found their way home from garage sales and thrift shops.

I sewed them together in three points with a little hand stitch and attached the kerchief panels to vintage swing rods in my bathroom.

One of the handkerchiefs has a hand-written message. It reads, "May 11, 1956 To Ellie, Friendship means a lot 'tis true But more so when the friend is you, Naomi."

The rods swing open and close over the window and they can extend outward as well.

Vintage handkerchiefs are easy to find. You can find them at garage sales, flea markets, antique and thrift shops.

These hankie panels are simple to throw together and you can sew them however you desire. Try inducting a color scheme. Or match all white hankies together for a light and airy panel. You could even take it a step further and sew a bed coverlet or quilt out of them. There are so many uses for these vintage handkerchiefs, so don't pass them up when you see them for a good price!

And now for the part we have all been waiting for! I would now love to announce the winner of my Post Road Vintage and Romantic Prairie Style giveaway. Thank-you to everyone who entered. It was so much fun to read what you are planting in your gardens this year! You have all inspired me. I just picked up some seeds this weekend for planting and I hope to get my garden in soon! I will be planting potatoes, yellow and green beans, scarlet runner beans, yellow onions, many kinds of lettuce, herbs, tomatoes, several kinds of peppers, cucumbers, pumpkins, squash, cosmos, dahlias, zinnias, and sunflowers. I will try to pack them all into my eight raised beds. I hope to have lots of fresh veggies this summer!

Now let's take a moment to announce the winner...

Anonymous writes that once again, they have a huge garden going! They have planted 4 rows of tomatoes, and rows of cukes, melons, squash, onions, lettuce, strawberries, and raspberries. She also has her herb garden and five 20 ft. rows of cutting flowers, not to mention her house garden with mostly perennials (larkspur, roses, salvia, ornamental grasses, lantana, scented geraniums and more.) And, she writes, "where did we spend our morning? At the Farmer's Market!"

Sounds like a very beautiful garden! Anonymous please shoot me an email at mgmarcusse@gmail.com with your contact info. Congratulations!

Sunday, May 13, 2012

When I am out shopping at the flea markets, I tend to shop without an agenda. I just buy what I love and in doing so, I have small collections of lovelies here and there from stacks of old quilts to vintage glass jars. Does this happen to you as well? Do you find yourself gravitating toward what you love only to find yourself bringing home another vintage pot to add to your ever-growing stash? The fun part is taking the "new" treasure home and incorporating it with all the others. I love not only to display my collections but use them throughout the home as well. For instance, vintage tea-towels hangs at my stove for hand drying and pictured here, I took down my old marmalade pots off the shelf to make a pretty centerpiece on my kitchen island.

I stuck them in an antique french water glass carrier from the 1900's. Waiters would use these wire trays to carry drinks to the outdoor terrace.

I cut some blossoms for the pots from my mom's tree (oh you should see her trees, so, so pretty with their spring blooms!)

These blooms smell so wonderful! Their scent fills my whole living room, it smells like spring in here!

Sometimes, it's just as pretty to see them displayed all together on the shelf of my chippy-white country hutch.

What do you like to collect? What do you like to do with your collections? Do you display them so beautifully on a shelf in your home or do you like to get them out to use, or both? I would love to hear about it!

Remember there is still time to enter for your chance to win a $50 gift certificate to Post Road Vintage (thanks so much again, Heather!) and a one-year subscription to Romantic Prairie Style magazine. Just *Click Here* to enter.
Thank-you to everyone who entered. It is such a blast to read what you are putting in your gardens and hearing about your al fresco dinner plans!

On a final note, I want to thank the girls over at French Charmed for this adorable ruffle umbrella that I won from their giveaway! What perfect timing for a new umbrella, with all the nice spring rain showers we have been getting! It sits in an old milk can placed by my front door in the entryway. My sister, Carla, gave me this wonderful can for my birthday. She sure knows my style! Isn't it so pretty?

I want to wish all you mothers out there a wonderful day! I hope your day is filled with love (and pampering!) God has not yet opened that door for me, but I pray someday soon! All in His perfect timing.

I will be back soon with more collections, some spring garden shots, and of course, a winner!

Saturday, May 5, 2012

Today is my anniversary! I have been blogging for one whole year! Can you believe how fast it flew by? The saying is so true...'time flies when you're having fun!' And it's all because of you, so I have a very special treat! I am excited to announce my very first giveaway here at Rusty Hinge! My wonderful blogging friend, Heather from Post Road Vintage, has so generously offered all of my readers a chance to win a $50 gift certificate (thank-you so much, Heather!) to her lovely shop. What perfect timing, Heather just released her new spring line called, Whispers of Spring! Here is a peek at it, in all it's awesomeness...

(I love these soap dispensers and am looking to purchase another from Heather! I want one at all my sinks!)
*Above photos courtesy of Post Road Vintage*

All you have to do to be entered in the giveaway is leave me a comment letting me know what you are planting in your garden this year (because I love to garden!) and if you don't garden, let me know who you would invite to your warm-summer-night alfresco dinner party if you hosted one tonight! It's that simple!

For additional entries, you can Facebook, Twitter, pin on Pinterest, or post on your blog about this giveaway. AND for an extra bonus entry, please sign up for Heather's fabulous quarterly E-zine, Homebound (or tell me you already subscribe.) You can sign up for Homebound *Here* or in my sidebar as well. Please make sure that you leave a separate comment for each one.

On a final note, I just picked up my copy of Fifi's Romantic Prairie Style magazine and love, love, LOVE it! And I know without-a-doubt that you will love it too, SO to sweeten the pot, I am going to include a one-year subscription to Romantic Prairie Style magazine in the giveaway!

One winner will be drawn at random and the giveaway ends on May 15 at midnight.

A HUGE thank-you goes out to you! Let's celebrate one year together, shall we? I am so grateful that you chose to stick around!

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About Me

Where shall I begin about myself? I love all things decorating, gardening, antiques, linens, flea markets...let's just say if it's old and vintage, I love it! I am married to my wonderful husband, Karl, who tolerates my obsessions with all these things, although I have to admit some days he is more tolerant than others! I am blessed to live in a hundred year old farm house in northern (lower) Michigan. It has many things that might merit complaint but I call it character and charm. This being said, I want to share with you a little of my passion for decorating and everything else that makes me tick. Thank-you for stopping by...Please feel welcome to come back again,
Maria

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